


The War Changed Things

by Prussan



Series: Queer Mash [1]
Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: Angst, Because Hawkeye is so pansexual it's not funny, Gen, I'm Sorry, It starts okay and then it goes down hill, MY QUEERPLATONIC OTP, Pan!Hawkeye, Queer MASH, Queer Themes, Queerplatonic BJ/Hawkeye, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 07:45:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5777335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prussan/pseuds/Prussan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An angsty drabble about my favourite queerplatonic OTP BJ/Hawkeye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The War Changed Things

When Hawkeye missed Trapper at Kimpo, he was so angry. Angry at the army and the ocean of bureaucracy that he currently found himself adrift in. Trap had been more than a friend. He'd been a life preserver, keeping Hawkeye from doing so much more than just killing Frank Burns.

And now he was gone.

Still reeling from Henry's death, Hawkeye would have taken Trapper's leaving much much more poorly, had he not met one BJ Hunnicutt at the Officers club in Kimpo.

BJ had an honest face, and a devious streak a mile wide that was masked by his affable nature. He didn't take Hawke's anger and resentment of Trapper personally.

BJ was completely different person to Trapper, too. Although Trap and Hawke had always been a double act, the subversive, suggestive, perverted humour had been the sole purview of Hawkeye.

When Major Houlihan accused the pair of molesting every nurse in camp, it was Trapper who shot back with "Except the male ones" and Hawkeye who was left with the almost too liberal, suggestive punchline of "Speak for yourself." When Radar developed a crush on Lt. Simmons, it was "Uncle Trapper" and "Aunt Hawkeye".

Trapper was an okay guy, but he left Hawkeye with no doubt as to where he stood: Trap was a red blooded ladies man, through and through.

BJ, on the other hand, was a whole 'nother kettle of fish. BJ was the sort of person that radiated warmth and kindness. The sort of person who Hawkeye would have would has though of as the fair golden haired child, had it not been for his love of devilish practical jokes.

Like Trapper, he was married, but while Trapper always had his eyes on the newest nurse to the 4077, BJ really only had eyes for Peg. Perhaps that was the difference, BJ wasn't looking for a good time with a nurse or a working girl, so Hawkeye wasn't forced to compete for his time or attention.

(Wouldn't Sidney just love that?)

Either way, Hawkeye and BJ formed a close bond around their shared love of practical jokes, and shared hatred of the army, the draft and Ferret Face's overzealous, malignant patriotism.

Hawkeye knew nothing would ever come of it, BJ was far to devoted to Peg, and Hawke had plenty of nurses to woo, but there was a closeness between him and BJ that hadn't existed between him and Trapper. All of a sudden, rather than making those suggestive remarks on his own, Hawkeye noticed BJ making them too. Or better still, Hawkeye would make one, and Beej would continue the joke, playing up the queerness of their relationship even further.

BJ was tactile in a way that Trapper wasn't, and it took Hawkeye a while to get use to the shift. On the nights Hawkeye woke up screaming over some long lost friend from Crabapple Cove, it was Beej who would roll out of his cot to comfort Hawke. There were even times when Hawke could have sworn that BJ had just sat with him, and made soothing, calming gestures until he drifted back to sleep. But perhaps that was just the exhaustion.

After they finally sent Burns stateside, things shifted again. Charles was different to Burns. Both more prejudiced, and less. Charles was more arrogant, and less ignorant. More contemptful of the _hoi polloi_ , and yet, more accepting of individuals. Charles would attack people based on their childish antics or their philandering or their poor education, but never for who they were personally.

(And truth be known, Hawkeye always thought there was just something a little bit queer about Charles anyway.)

This shifted dynamics in the Swamp once more. The place was safer for Hawkeye than it had been with Trapper or Burns. And Hawke suspected that maybe Beej felt that too. Things between them seemed to be less guarded, more comfortable, safe in the knowledge that the small gestured of close kindness wouldn't be misconstrued. But, then again, maybe that was just a confirmation bias on Hawkeye's behalf.

Hawkeye didn't realise it at the time, but things shifted once again after he was admitted. He didn't realise it for a long time, but it was more than just BJ's talk of Erin and booties that set him off that day. There was a… distance between them that wasn't there previously, a wariness.

Hawkeye didn't blame BJ. Hawke's behaviour was unpredictable and erratic. Had the situation been reversed, Hawke probably would have been just as wary as BJ. It just hurt because Hawke knew, in hindsight, that he could have never done anything to hurt Beej. No, Hawkeye was far more of a danger to himself.

Hawkeye's only regret was that it had to end that way. The war changed things. The end of the war changed things. Hawkeye lived in an eastern-coast state so far north that it was basically in Canada. BJ lived in sunny west coast California. It seemed cruel that they'd been brought together under such terrible circumstances, then to have been returned home without each other.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've picked up any mistakes, leave me a comment and I'll correct it.


End file.
